is this normal? | ADHD Information

thank u! i really apreciate all the responses. this is a very helpful board!

kim

Our daughter lost maybe 5 pounds at first but quickly gained it back.  The last couple years she has reached a spot where she didn't grow much or gain much weight but now she is gaining weight and growing more.  The doctor said it was normal for her age and that all kids go through that.  If you were petite then I would expect your son to be as well.  My husband and I were both small children so it didn't surprise us that Emily is small for her age.  It's straight genetics.  You may see a slight difference in his eating habits but just encourage him to eat when you can.  Even if it's just small snacks throughout the day all calories count.  We let Em bascially eat whatever she wants at night.  She LOVES Ben & Jerry's Half-Baked Ice Cream so that is a staple in our house, along with chips and whatever else I can get her to munch on that is fattening.  She's a big fruit and vegetable kid so she thinks of snacks in terms of a cucumber or apple instead of junk.  It's great for her health but not so great for putting on some weight.  But she has grown 1 1/2 inches in like a month and gained 4 lbs in the last 2 months.  So, I guess what I'm saying is don't worry about it too much.  They'll eat when their hungry and he'll go through a stage where he won't eat (all kids do)!

Keep smiling!!  You're doing great!! 

We had DS on Adderall at first and now he is on 27mg of Concerta.  Much like the other posts, my son lost a couple of pounds initially and has a little decrease in appetite.  About 2 months into it he got his appetite back.  My son is about the same size as yours (but I'm 5'1") so I totally get what you are saying.  One thing that is daily with him is about 7pm, even after dinner, he is ravenous.  So I do take advantage of that to get those extra calories in.  Also, alot of people have written about making smoothies with Carnation Instant Breakfast to supplement vitamins and calories too. 

We had to up our dd's dose about every 6 months for the first couple years.  She has now been on 54 mg of concerta for the last year and a half.  We make sure she eats first and then give her the meds and it helps keep her appetite going for the day.  If she takes the medicine before eating we found she doesn't eat nearly enough.  To me it sounds like he just needs his dosage changed.  You'll notice as his body gets used to the meds the side effects will calm down.  I would deffinitely try the melatonin at night though.

Just stay strong and everything will work out.  You're doing great!

My daughter (11 years old)  takes Concerta and Tenex.  The combination works well for her.   We added the tenex because of tics and it has helped with that and a little anxiety.  They closely monitor her blood pressure and it's been fine since starting the Tenex.

If your son was successful on 7.5 mg of Ritalin,  18 mg of Concerta is probably too low.  You might consider trying the 27 mg.    It's a small increase from the 18 mg and it might be enough to make the difference.    It did for my daughter.

yah i was really thinking of telling them that i would just try the 27mg instead of the adderall. i am just so indecisive with all of this. they gave me the 27 and i didnt fill it then they decided to give me the aderall instead and now i want to just try the 27mg  so i will have to call them back im sure they will think im crazy. i kinda just agreed to the adderall last minute when i should have just tried the concerta first. if it doesnt work then i will try adderall. i have tried to read up on the different medications but this is the 1st website i have found that i can read ppls comments on the meds. u always find out more once u talk with someone who has taken it theirself or has a child that takes it. i can tell you are all going to be soooo helpful to me and my family. i hope the 27mg works. i will let u all know. thank u for your replies im feeling alot better about this.

kim

he has been seen by a nueropsychologist that diagnosed him. but then they sent us to another person after that for the med trial. it does work for him but i think it might not be strong enough. i do see a big difference in him while he is on it maybe he needs a higher dose. i just worry that it might keep him up really late or give him more side effects. i dont want him to take more than he needs. im thinking i may try the 27 mgs of concerta. they did say he could have ritalin when the concerta wears off but i would rather he just take one pill a day. when he was in the office the 7.5 mg of ritalin worked really good for him. so maybe i need to up the concerta to make it about equal to that. right now 18mg is equal to only 5mg of ritalin so its lower than what they did the trial with. oh so much to figure out. i just feel bad to make all these changes for him its hard. after we get his meds right they are having us get the prescriptions from our pediatrician and she will check up on him. they are saying that if the concerta doesnt work or adderall then they want to try tenex the blood pressure med. i dont want to use that. i dont want to start messing with blood pressure. i guess we will see how these meds work first. thank u all for answering my questions i really appreciate it. its nice to talk with ppl that are going through similar situations! im glad i found this board.

kim

I've found when you increase dose you increase side effects, but it may be worht a try as the side effects aren't awful. Good luck, we all have to "tweak" the dose or med to get it right.

thanks Spamula, it's been a long time coming

thank u. i found the 27mg prescription so i dont think i need to call them. im going to fill it tomorow and start him on it on wed morning. that way i have a few days off of work to see how he does on it. did your daughter lose weight and if she did then did she ever gain it back? he has been eating more this week than the last 2 so thats a better sign but when we up his dose im sure it will be like starting over. thanks for your kind words!

kim

My daughter lost weight initially the first 6 months.  I think it was around 6-8 pounds but I don't remember exactly how much it was.  Since the initial drop, she has gained it all back and has continued to grow at a steady rate.

I also try to feed breakfast before meds as she won't eat much until they are out of her system.  I also pretty much let her eat whenever she wants after they have worn off.  Many nights this means she is eating at 10 pm or later.  (She's a night owl...)

HorseMom39636.7662384259

thats good to know. he is sooo skinny. he always has been though and so was i when i was little. we give him breakfast first and then his meds. he has a little bit of food for lunch and then he starts to eat more around 3pm. he is very hungry by then. which isnt too late but this will probably be later once we start the 27mg. im so glad that he could gain it back. i was worried he might just keep losing. i will keep an eye on it though. thanks again.

kim

my son almost 7yrs ols was recently diagnosed with adhd combined type. he has been taking concerta 18 mg since 6-12-08. when they gave him the ritalin at a med trial his test results improved dramatically. he was at about 7.5 mg of ritalin for that. so they started us off at 18 mg which is about 5 mg of ritalin. so the 1st 2 days he had a headache and stomachache and it was very hard for him to get to sleep. he just seemed really wound up. they say this med could last up to 12 hours. well my son takes it around 7 am and i feel like its wore off around 3 pm. at that time he is sooo hyper and acts really silly. he reminds of a kid that might have had too much caffiene. he yells things out and runs around with TONS of energy. when u tell him to stop or sit down he acts like he cant even hear you. and i really think he cant concentrate on sitting down or settling down. i have heard that when they have rebound that it can last up to an hour. well this lasts until he has to go to bed. its hard for me to get his 2 yr old brother to sleep b/c the 7 yr old is up and down so much and cant stop talking. he still has a hard time getting off to sleep at night but i would say he is asleep by 10pm so its not too outragious. we went to the dr a few days ago for a check up and he has lost a few pounds. i hear this is normal but i dont want him to lose more b/c he is already really skinny. 4ft 2in 46lbs. so the dr gave me a prescription for 27mg but i am worried that he would be up all night and lose more weight. i do feel like he needs a tiny bit more of the med to be able to function in school. (ultimately we will find that out in a few months) i am just worried about more side effects or giving him too much of this med too soon. i was wondering if concerta is a med that ppl build a tolerance to and if this sounds like he needs a higher dose to any one else. do children usually act this way once the med is wore off for the day. is this normal? they also gave me a script for adderall rx 10 mg to try for 2 weeks. im kind of leary of this med as he had it a few years ago and didnt respond well but i also only gave it to him once and he was 4yrs old. i am concerned that adderall may be a drug that u have to constantly keep raising the dosage and may get addicted to. im worried to even try it for the 2 weeks. i just want my little boy to be able to go to school and learn. i had to pull him from school in kindergarten b/c of the way the teacher was treating him. a very long story but this year will be a new school new teachers and i am so scared of getting those phone calls and my son being in trouble. please tell me what u think i should do and what is normal. meds are very new to us.

thanks in advance.

kim

Dear Kim, Welcome to the forum. We have all had so many issues to deal with concerning our children, it seems. Here you will get a lot of support and a lot of good suggestions.

What type of doctor does your son go to? Psychiatrist, neurologist, pediatrician? After going through incredible rebound with my son on some of his medication, I believe (and it is only my opinion) that too high a dose can lead to the rebound. With their tiny bodies and weights, too high a dose at one time can create all types of physical side effects including stomach and headaches and rebound.

Smaller doses, at more frequent intervals may be the answer. You can ask your doctor about it. As to becoming addicted to these meds- I suppose it is possible but I haven't heard about it from anyone here. Children can develop a tolerance to meds and so a change of meds may be necessary. So for my child this means focalinxr until his body develops a tolerance and then we will switch to adderall and then back to focalin (hopefully). Every day seems to be a challenge with our children.

for bedtime- we use melatonin. Ask you doctor. It is otc and is safe in small amounts. Keep us informed.

Randy

Welcome rosalie68 It is critical that you develop a very good understanding of ADHD medications because the wrong information can leave parents feeling scared and apprehensive. To begin with, Adderall or any other stimulant medication for ADHD doesnt constantly have to be increased. The only exceptions usally are when the child starts going through puberty, adjustments might have to be made, when initailly the child is going through a trial of meds medications and/or doses may have to be changed several times until the right med is found , there are cases where the child is misdiagnosed with ADHD and when that happens either the child experiences unacceptable side effects and/or no ADHD medication or dose works for the child. For some, the medication just doesnt work and there is no explanation but thats a small percentage of people. Normally, for the ADHD child, when puberty hits the hormones change and very often the med or dose have to be changed. The only exception is Straterra which is a non stimulant. The dose is based on weight, unlike stimulant meds so depending on the weight of the child which fluctuates  determines the dose

As far as rebound, what your child is experiencing is very normal and yes it can last all night. Many times a doctor will precribe a short acting stimulant as well to eliminate the rebound effect or as randyjim pointed out, the dose may be too high. Also, stimulant medication flushes right out of the system once it wears off so dont worry about giving too much medicine. If the dose is too high you will know it and as I said, the medication doesnt stay in the body too long and you dont have to wean off of it. Unlike Straterra, stimulant meds are not blood level medications.

Weight issues are a great concern to parents but as the child goes into puberty, most catch up and in the mean time you have to look at the overall picture which is providing your child with quality of life. This can be a scary thing for parents but the more you learn, the less you fear. Fear of the unknown is what is scary so it important to do good research and have your child's ADHD symptoms managed by a specialist. Please keep us informed and whether you have questions or just need to vent, there is always someone here to help

 

rosalie68

  just a suggestion, both Ritalin LA and Methylin ER are long acting forms of Ritalin. My daughter didnt do well on Concerta, but did much better on both of these long acting methylphedinates. The RLA is a 10 hour med and Methylin ER is an 8 hour. My daughter actually is currently taking Methylin ER twice a day once at 5:00am and once at 12:00-1:00. On weeeknds we generayll just give it once around 9:00-10:00. With the RLA she took that at 6:30 and a short acting med at 3:00 and it worked well also.

Hang in there, there are a lot of options out there, it is SO hard trying to figure out what to do. Work with your doctr, he/she should be understanding.

Welcome to the group. We found that if we give DS his med with breakfast, he eats when it wears off about 11-12 hours later he eats alot and sometime snacks through the day. We had better luck with Vyvanse as far as rebounds, eating, sleeping (we also give DS Melatonin). and school. Still working on social aspects.

we were lucky to not have had to try alot of meds, but the 1st was a disaster for us. all meds work different on every child, it truly is amazing. Diane, I am glad you got something that works finally.

Good Luck with your journey!